Kamil K. Kolincio, PhD, Eng., co-authoring an article in "Nature" devoted to the discovery of a metallic p-wave magnet | Gdańsk University of Technology

A characteristic feature of the magnetic ordering found in this compound is the arrangement of localized spins into a helix, commensurate with the crystal lattice, and accompanied by an unconventional– odd-parity spin splitting of electronic bands. This state, which, in terms of symmetry, is similar to the pairing of helium-3 atoms in its high-pressure phase, here is realized by strong coupling between conduction electrons and the local magnetic moments localized on gadolinium ions, which form a breathing kagome lattice – composed of alternating equilateral triangles separated by hexagons.

This is the second known p-wave magnet, but the first to be metallic in its character at the same time, which allowed for studying the behaviour of conduction electrons. These electrons, in presence of spin-orbit coupling, and with time-reversal symmetry breaking, generate an exceptionally strong galvanomagnetic response in the form of the anomalous Hall effect.

The contribution of the scientist from the Gdańsk University of Technology involved participating in a neutron scattering experiment conducted at the J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) in Tokai, Japan, and aimed at studying magnetic structure. This participation was related to Dr Kolincio's post-doctoral internship at RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science in Wako, Japan, in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Currently Dr Kolincio works in the Division of Nanomaterials Physics, which is part of the Institute of Nanotechnology and Materials Engineering at the Faculty of Applied Physics and Mathematics.

"In a broader context, this discovery should be associated with spintronics, which is an extension of today's electronics. Currently, most electronic devices that use magnetism, such as hard drives, rely on ferromagnetic materials, with properties similar to common magnets, such as those we put on our refrigerators," the scientist explained. "Discovering new types of ordering and their impact on charge transport, or to control magnetic ordering with the use of external factors such as magnetic field, is the path to new, faster and more energy-effective hard drives, memory, or even processors based on antiferromagnets.

It is worth emphasizing that this type of research in the field of exotic and unconventional magnets is conducted by only a dozen or so research teams in the world.

About “Nature”

“Nature” is a peer-reviewed British weekly science journal founded in 1869 by Norman Lockyer and currently published by Springer Nature. It publishes groundbreaking research across all fields of the natural sciences, and its articles are among the most frequently cited in the world. Similar to the American “Science” journal, it ranks among the top periodicals with the highest impact factor.

Kamil K. Kolincio, PhD, Eng., is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Applied Physics and Mathematics at the Gdańsk University of Technology.

He is a physicist specializing in the study of phenomena related to electronic and magnetic ordering in solids. His work focuses on understanding the relations between electronic and magnetic degrees of freedom in solids, such as charge density waves and long-range magnetism.

He has authored or co-authored over twenty publications in prestigious journals such as PNAS, Physical Review Letters, Physical Review B, and others. He managed two bilateral NAWA projects under the Austria 2021 and Polonium 2021 programs, implemented in cooperation with the Vienna University of Technology and Laboratoire CRISMAT in France, respectively.

He earned his PhD in physics from the University of Caen (France) in 2013, having previously completed a Master's degree in technical physics at the Gdańsk University of Technology. He gained his research experience, among others, during a post-doctoral internship at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science in Japan, where he explored the geometrical Hall and Nernst effects driven by scalar spin chirality from spin fluctuations.

In October, he was also one of the winners of the Gdańsk Tech’s #Edushare program, in which students recognize their lecturers.